Dark Alliance will get split-screen co-op after launch

Dark Alliance
(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)

As the sequel to two great local co-op games—Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 1 and 2—it was a bit odd to see that the third game, the simply titled Dark Alliance, was not going to feature a local multiplayer option. If you played the first two games back in the day, then you probably played them with a friend, running around killing rats and marvelling at the impressive water. The original game was recently re-released on consoles, although it's not coming to PC until later this year.

It just felt a bit odd that Dark Alliance's co-op would be online only, but thankfully that will change soon after launch. As announced on a developer stream, and then again on Twitter, Dark Alliance will be getting local, or 'couch' co-op after all.

"After Dark Alliance launches, our main priority is supporting 2-player split-screen couch co-op for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. We’re working to have this ready for our first free DLC this summer," the tweet says.

Dark Alliance itself is due out on June 22, in just a few weeks. It's set in D&D's wintry Icewind Dale region, which you may have fought your way across in...Icewind Dale and its sequel. This is a more action-focused game that Fraser described as "D&D for the impatient".

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.